Woman rescued by fire cherry picker after falling onto Leigh roof

The 51-year-old woman had been throwing a ball for her dog on the balcony of her flat when it bounced onto the roof of the shop below.

A woman had to be rescued by fire crews in a cherry-picker after getting injured when she climbed onto the roof of a furniture shop to retrieve a ball.

The 51-year-old woman had been throwing a ball for her dog on the balcony of her flat when it bounced onto the roof of the shop below.

She decided to use an emergency fire escape ladder to climb down onto the roof of the building on Lord Street in Leigh in a bid to retrieve it.

But when she tried to climb back up to get onto her balcony she slipped and fell, landing on a roof vent sustaining injuries to her torso.

The building, Magnam House, is three storeys high and contains a furniture store, Magnam Furniture Superstore.

Fire crews were called to the scene and used a hydraulic lifting platform to rescue the woman during the incident around 9.45pm last night.

Police and ambulance crews then attended with paramedics from a Hazardous Area Response Team also scaling the roof to assess the woman at the scene.

The woman was then strapped to a spine board and taken to Wythenshawe Hospital as a suspected severe trauma case.

Her injuries have today been described as non-life threatening although she is expected to remain in hospital for several days.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service watch manager Gareth Gray, who attended the incident, said: “A 51-year-old woman had been playing with her dog on a penthouse roof terrace and the ball dropped over the edge of the roof on to a lower roof area.

“Deciding to try and get the ball back the woman used a fire escape ladder to get down, and it was when she tried to climb back up that she fell onto a roof vent injuring her back and side.

“A paramedic examined the woman and we used an aerial appliance to safely lower her down to the ground before she was taken to hospital.”

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